This is an interesting perspective given that England have lost more one-day matches than they have won this year. Certainly ground has been gained, from a standing start it must be said, but the search for match-winners should never rest.

David Graveney made the worthwhile point that the Champions Trophy is an important opportunity for further development of a team whose roots were formed as recently as last September in Zimbabwe. The management asked for more one-day cricket, citing lack of experience as a reason for England's poor record previously. Therefore it made little sense to rest the certainties and experiment with potential.

That is fine, with one proviso. Already the team's best finisher with the bat, Graham Thorpe, has stood down. The best finisher with the ball, Darren Gough, is pursued by injury for he is no spring chicken. Neither is Andrew Caddick, who takes longer to recover from niggles than ever before. Others who will be past 30 come February next year are Nasser Hussain, Nick Knight and Alec Stewart, with Ashley Giles reaching the milestone in March.

By common consent, the most demanding cricket, on both mind and body, takes place in Australia, where England will be for three months before going directly to South Africa. The fallout from the last two trips to Australia has been dramatic enough to suggest that were it to be so extensive again, the best laid plans could be in tatters.

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Ideally, fresh cricketers such as Ian Blackwell and Ian Bell, who both turn it on for their county when it matters most; Alex Tudor and Kabir Ali, who bat well enough down the order to be appreciated as more than one-dimensional cricketers, should have been examined.

Frankly, the list of obvious stand-ins, which might include Ali Brown, Mark Butcher, Graeme Hick, Dominic Cork, James Kirtley and Alan Mullally, is not so long that England can afford much to go wrong. As things are, if a serious challenge is to be made for the World Cup the high intensity one-day series in Australia must be negotiated successfully, or at least without alarm.

Thankfully, much has been learnt from the recent NatWest Series. When fully fit, England have three gems who can sparkle at any time and in any company - Marcus Trescothick, Andrew Flintoff and the irresistible Gough. There is an evident and essential flexibility to the batting order that few other countries can match - Flintoff, Stewart and Ronnie Irani all seemed comfortable anywhere from four to seven, as Craig White ought to be.

Hussain, usually such a strong personality, needs to feel wanted at No 3 to bat at his best. He is the identity and thread of the team, much as Steve Waugh was when regenerating Australia's pursuit of the World Cup 3.5 years ago. The captain's animation is not always attractive but it reveals his passion and challenges others to follow. Moreover, he has the mental strength to see anything through, as he proved in the final against India at Lord's. This is something he must urge from the others, who may have more talent but often flatter and then deceive.

Culpably, there is not room in the same team for Irani and Paul Collingwood. So White is back, and if not specifically to bat then presumably to become the fifth specialist bowler and to help solve the problem of who operates at the death with Gough.

The catching is good but the ground fielding mixed. Duncan Fletcher, whose Zimbabwe team in the early Eighties were predatory in the single-saving positions and hit the stumps regularly when attempting run-outs, may focus on this Achilles heel more than any other.

Another area that England might explore is innovation. Knowing Fletcher's naturally inquisitive, almost photographic mind, he may already be doing so and keeping a few tricks to himself. It was, for example, a revelation to arrive in the subcontinent two winters ago and see how the England batsmen had improved against spin and how the bowlers responded to the various strategies. Most World Cups have featured a new approach of some sort and, mostly, conservative old England have been off the pace. They may not be so under this coach.